June in the U.S. is known as Backup Awareness Month, although how many people know such a thing is debatable.

But even though summer obviously coincides with the time for protecting one’s digital data, recent research reports have shown that over 90% of people still risk loss by not backing-up properly.

They also show that despite campaigns trying to get people to be aware of basic backup techniques, nearly half of computers lose all manner of digital data in a given year, including music files, pictures, hard drive failures and theft.

And for those wondering how often they should back-up their data, the best practice is at least once a day.

It seems there has been an improvement in the amount of people backing up once a week (around 13% to 14%) and people doing the same task monthly (around 26% to 27%), and computer experts are at least gratified that more people are beginning to see the point of backing-up, even though on such an infrequent basis.

And this is especially true when it comes to laptops which have recently outsold desktops as the computer of choice for many people. But experts point out that laptops are inherently more vulnerable than desktops, not least because they are often mobile and susceptible to a higher chance of damage and theft, making regular back-ups a necessity.

Also, computer users should bear in mind an average modern computer can hold a vast amount of data which could be impossible to replace if not regularly backed up. A hard drive of some 300 GB is able to store nearly 100 full-length films, a staggering 30,000 photographs and over 20,000 music files.

Yet many users, with such amounts of data on their systems (not forgetting their handheld devices and mobile telephones), seem oblivious to the risks involved. It is hoped that Backup Awareness Month will make some inroads into the lethargy.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

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